If Only
by DelinkersWithFire
Summary: Kakashi and Sakuras Journey to the Valley of the End What COULD have happened?


_**Ba-bump**_

Her chest still hurt.

Even though she knew it had only been genjutsu, and no physical harm had actually come to her, it hurt.

It ached.

It was sore.

It would violently spasm, bearing down on her weakened heart. But she had to save her chakra. She had to find her boys and kill that feeling in her guts telling her that they were both gone.

 _ **Ba-bump**_.

She stopped and clenched a hand to her chest, willing the squeezing pain to go away.

 _Just a little further, only a little further._

She turned her head to the side and could see Kakashi digging through rubble, looking for any sign of his old students. He looked just as bad as she felt, but he pushed on regardless. And so would she.

Taking off again, she began climbing a rather large piece of the monument, huffing with the effort of pushing her exhausted body up such a steep incline.

But she had to go further. _Only a little further.._

Standing atop the rubble she stared in almost disbelief. She knew that her team mates were strong but this..

The amount of raw devastation done to the land was. . Unreal.

She lifted her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun and was struck with a familiar feeling.

A _sick_ and _twisted_ feeling that she didn't want to acknowledge. Looking down the expanse of the massive crater her teammates had created, she thought she saw something.

Is that _hair_? She leaned forward a bit more, craning her neck as far as she could. _There's no-_

She toppled gracelessly over the edge. Her body hit solid, jagged rock and bounced bonelessly down the overhang. It _should_ have been a drop straight to the ground from there, but unfortunately for her it wasn't. After 3 or 4 sharp thuds and a single loud crack, she blacked out.

 _ **Ba-bump.**_

She came to staring at the sky.

Still blue.

Still cloudless and bright.

She huffed softly, slowly pulling herself into a sitting position. Her leg was mangled but she couldn't quite feel it. Shock was a beautiful thing, but it was fleeting. She reached out and snapped her leg back together, then reached for her ankle and stopped. All the hairs on her body stood on end, while a strange buzzing ebbed at the back of her mind. That familiar feeling was stronger now, and she could almost pin point what it was but..

 _Didn't want to_. She knew she didn't want to. Her skin pickled as she started to sweat. I'm so close to it.

 _Only a little further.._

 _ **Ba-bump**_.

 _ **Ba-bump**_.

She didn't move.

She _couldn't_ move. The shock was wearing off and the pain was seeping in.

 _ **Ba-bump**_.

 _ **Ba-bump**_.

The buzzing was getting louder. But she didn't _want_ to know.

But she was so _close_.

She let go of her ankle, and slowly turned.

 _ **Ba-**_

 _ **Bump**_

Her heart sank.

Sasuke was lying only a few meters away from her.

Missing most of an arm, face swollen _body_ beginning to bloat.

She put her hand back to her ankle and looked down. Slowly healing herself, she stretched and stood.

She took one step, and fell to her knees.

 _ **BA-BUMP**_

Her chest had seized the hardest it had yet; she coughed up red flecks. Breathing harshly she wiped the sweat from her brow and stood again.

Legs shaking she took another step.

And another, and another until she was there, standing with him at her feet. She slowly sank to her knees and stared.

It was all she could do. You _can't_ heal a corpse.

She reached out and gently touched his face, disturbing the flies buzzing madly around his body. She got a glimpse of a few flying out of his open mouth. She gently ran her thumb across the swell of his cheek.

She could ask why. She could scream it, but she didn't.

 _Why bother?_ She wasn't able to save him, and maybe this was the only real way for his heart to be redeemed. She tilted his face toward her and gazed into his dull eye. She couldn't tell if he was at peace or not, his face was too swollen.

She gently laid his head back down and set her hand on his chest.

And immediately yanked it back off. His chest was gooey and if she was seeing correctly it began to move.

 _Oh god_.

A single white maggot wormed its way out from somewhere underneath his shirt and she decided it was time to leave. The sick familiar feeling that had been overpowering her senses was the rigid smell of rotting flesh, and corpse gas. Even the slightly stagnant goo underneath his body was letting off a horrible odor.

Holding her hand away from herself, she walked upwind from the body finding Naruto not too far away at all. He was also swollen but..

" _Naruto_?" She croaked.

His chest rose, and slowly fell.

She ran forward and slumped to her knees, wiping Sasukes fluids off on her pants, and grabbing Narutos blood crusted face. His eye opened a fraction and his lips twitched in the ghost of a smile.

" _Oh god Naruto, no_." She whispered stroking his matted hair.

Her eyes began to burn as she took in her best friends' appearance. How he was _still_ alive was probably only due to his will power, and nothing else. Because.. We'll there wasn't much else there.

"Sakura.. chan. " He rasped.

"Shhhhhh Naruto. It's okay." She continued to run her hands through his hair while he struggled to breathe. A few moments passed and she found herself silently crying.

Naruto was gripping her with his only hand.

"S.. Sakura. I-" He stopped breathing for an agonizing moment, then willed the air back into his lungs. She waited quietly this time, knowing his time was nearing its end and not wanting to silence his last words.

"I k-k-kept my. . promise. I.. Brought him home Sakura." He lifted his gored nub in what he probably thought was a reassuring thumbs up.

 _ **Ba-bump**_

She bit her lip hard, trying desperately to keep the spasms in her chest from disrupting her dying teammate. The pain was unreal, but she could bear it while he was still conscious.

"I know Naruto. You _always_ keep your word . _Thankyou_." She could taste her dirty tears through her words. They left her mouth feeling chalky and sad.

Naruto surprised her a bit by opening his eye again and focusing directly on her. Eye to eye, their souls connected and she knew everything she needed to.

"Is this goodbye, Sakura-chan? " He wheezed, the light slowly fading from his. While their eyes were still locked sakura leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

He had enough energy to look a bit surprised then he smiled. But only for a moment before his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"I.. I can't feel my _legs_ Sakura.. I cant.." his words died off.

She continued to run her hands through his hair as the sobs began to wrack her chest. Loud, short ugly sounds came from deep within her. There was a new pain that run much deeper. It hurt so much more.

 _ **Ba-bump**_

Naruto didn't have a chance.

He didn't have an arm.

Or legs.

Or most of his spine or organs. His intestines stretched out several feet, partially connected to a hunk of meat. Probably the remains of his abdomen and lower half. She could see where some of his spine had been obliterated. Where a lung had peaked in and out during his last breaths. Even if she had been at full capacity there wouldn't have been much she could've done.

The cries grew louder and more miserable, drowning out the horrible buzzing in the back of her head.

 _ **Ba-bump**_

Her chest squeezed so hard that all the air was forced from her body in a single, _guttural_ blood curdling scream. It was so loud that it bounced back and rattled her eardrums.

She couldn't breathe, her vision was getting fuzzy and now it had seemed she'd made herself deaf.

 _Except for the buzzing_.

The buzzing was back keening loudly against the back of her skull, trying desperately to dig its way out. She felt her back hit something hard and warm.

Something rough touched her face and then there was **clarity**.

She opened her eyes and Kakashi was there, soothing her with gentle hands. She could see grief in his eye. A drop landed on her cheek and she realized he was crying too.

How _selfish_ she had been, not letting him know the moment she'd found the rest of their team. _Stealing_ away Narutos' last moments. Her face flushed with shame.

"I'm sorry sensei" She sobbed breathlessly, reaching up to touch his face.

Such was the way of the shinobi.

When her tears dried she stood silently and left her sensei to pay his respects.

She slowly climbed to the top of the same rubble she fell down.

Now facing the opposite direction she realized they had another problem to deal with. She stared thoughtfully in the direction of the giant tree, stealing the life forces of those she held dear.

A muted thud to her left, and Kakashi stepped next to her and slowly pulled down his mask.

He looked out to the tree while she looked straight at him.

She understood what the gesture meant.

Even though her heart was breaking and her body was giving out she just had to hold on.

She reached out and grabbed his shaking hand.

 _If only a little longer_.


End file.
